A call for greater understanding

by Alex Bols

The second day of the conference brought out a number of interesting points. Firstly is that higher education has significantly expanded in the past 30 years – both in terms of numbers of students and institutions. But perhaps the most striking difference is not the change in size but the way in which HE has changed.

Interesting times call for inspired leadership

by Alison Johns

In his plenary on ‘Cross-cutting themes and Leadership, Governance and Management’, HEFCE Chair Tim Melville-Ross had the unenviable task of pulling out the cross-cutting themes from all the – lively and varied – conference discussions. He identified these as follows:

Are academics ready for the 3am phone call?

by Conor Ryan

Are university staff ready to take a 3am call from a student who wants help with their essay? This was one of the interesting issues raised by HEFCE Chair Tim Melville Ross at a plenary session of the conference this morning.

Meeting the challenges of economy and employers

by Conor Ryan

Universities face significant challenges when it comes to delivering research and engaging with employers in the next few decades. Delegates brought their insights on these challenges to the conference this morning.